Earliest bass fly rods?

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jeffkn1
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Earliest bass fly rods?

#1

Post by jeffkn1 »

In the 1880's the big news for bass anglers was the Henshall rod, a practical alternative to long heavy wood or whole bamboo rods when using live or artificial baits. But there doesn't seem to be any maker advertising bass fly rods. The outfitters were offering bass flies, often described as bass or lake flies, which were really just the old trout standards with doubled snoods. How effective they were on bass, I don't know. They didn't represent bass forage at all.
So, what would a bass fly rod offer? Why market a rod like that? I've found one, to remain anonymous for the present, but I want to hear about others from about the same period, which is 1886 in this case. Here' are particulars from an outfitter's wholesale catalog:

- Black bass fly rod
- Six strip throughout (this maker was also offering four strip tips in some models)
- Reel below hand
- Length 10 1/2'
- Weight 10 1/2oz
- Dealer price $18


For you 19th century enthusiasts, who do you know of offering similar rods? Anyone?

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cwfly
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Re: Earliest bass fly rods?

#2

Post by cwfly »

1880 for the Berlin International. Conroy, B & M.

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jeffkn1
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Re: Earliest bass fly rods?

#3

Post by jeffkn1 »

Thanks, Charlie. So that would likely be of Malleson manufacture(?).
I had an unmarked Malleson that I redid and sold maybe 10 years ago, to someone I knew. I was asked what it cast like by someone else (not the eventual buyer) who was more interested in the casting characteristics than simply adding one to his collection. To the questioner's disappointment I told him it was horrible, as clubby feeling as I've ever held. Looking back, maybe it was a bass rod.......
Wonder if your 1880 rod shows up in the '76 Expo list as well.

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roycestearns
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Re: Earliest bass fly rods?

#4

Post by roycestearns »

The outfitters were offering bass flies, often described as bass or lake flies, which were really just the old trout standards with doubled snoods.
The Bass and Lake (land locked salmon and big trout of the north) were distinct patterns, in Fishing with the Fly 1883 a extended body "Caddis" pattern is illustrated in the Bass patterns which looks a lot like a Hex may fly. Bass and Lake were always on larger hooks than the trout flies. Did Dr Henshall drive a lot of the patterns, possibly. The very productive Royal Coachman originated as a lake fly. The Bass flies were really the true American patterns IMO

The earliest CFO catalogs had Bass rods available many models were wood and were offered handle above or below the reel. The Cheney Bass rod was built from Hornbeam and came in both formats. CFO advertised Bass fly rods early. Model 7 and 7 1/2 were the Henshall black bass rods and CFO offered to put the reel seat above or below the hand. Model 15 was the Black Bass Fly rod of split bamboo. CFO cataloged them as Strong for Heavy fish. Jerry G has the earliest catalogs, one is an 1876 list of rods.

Here is an 1882 build:
Image

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Pentalux
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Re: Earliest bass fly rods?

#5

Post by Pentalux »

Didn't the Henshall Rod start sooner than that? The 1880 Chubb Catalog offers the Henshall rod and Black Bass rods in similar weights to what you list but they were not the same price points. Curious why you questioned the make of C,B & M rod noted by Charlie - wouldn't those all have been built by Malleson? C,B & M were definitely listing Black Bass rods as early as 1875 from these ad's.
ImageImage
1886 they were no longer so your initial post is a curious one as have never seen a Malleson wholesaled catalog - the four strip tip note also makes me think Leonard.

jeffkn1
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Re: Earliest bass fly rods?

#6

Post by jeffkn1 »

"Curious why you questioned the make of C,B & M rod noted by Charlie - wouldn't those all have been built by Malleson? "
My question mark after the Malleson name above was just a way of asking for confirmation of something obviously simple.
The CB&M ads advertise black bass split bamboo rods and split bamboo fly rods, but not black bass split bamboo fly rods, as my mystery maker was in the 1886 dealer catalog, which happens to be a Dame, Stoddard & Kendall. (The mystery maker was not Leonard. Close, but not an employee nor anyone related to him.)
Without looking up the actual date, I had believed Henshall's 8'3" bass rod was originated early 1880's. Bass rods were apparently in existence in the 1870's but it was specifically a bass fly rod I was interested in, not a bass bait rod with a reel seat relocated below the grip. The mystery maker offered bass rods and bass fly rods, the latter being longer and heavier than the former.

Royce, were CFO's bass fly rod specs similar to my mystery maker's?

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roycestearns
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Re: Earliest bass fly rods?

#7

Post by roycestearns »

Hey Jeff,
To date the earliest printed record of the model No. 15 is in the 1884 catalog, and it reads like this:

No. 15 Black Bass Fly Rod - six strip hexagonal split-bamboo, length 11 feet; two tips, sack and round wood case, German-silver mountings, Orvis' patent reel -seat, Reel-seat below hand, and rings. A Strong Rod for Heavy Fish, $20

Interesting it doesn't state the weight which most of CFO's rod listings did. There is a record of a 9 ft bass bamboo rod with reel in back of the hand in 1883, which is a short bamboo rod for the time period.

jeffkn1
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Re: Earliest bass fly rods?

#8

Post by jeffkn1 »

In heavy rods there may not have been any advantage to stating the weight, unless it was unusually light, light still being relative. I don't recall rod weights in many ads of that era.
Page 4 of Fly Rod Crosby's biography spoke of the 9 1/2' rod she used on her fishing trip to Tim Pond: "By 1878 she was fishing at Tim Pond, using an 8 ounce bamboo rod given her by its maker, Charles Wheeler of Farmington." Hardly a fairy rod but she explained in a 1926 newspaper interview that it was much lighter than what everyone else there was using and she felt it was an advantage.

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roycestearns
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Re: Earliest bass fly rods?

#9

Post by roycestearns »

I'd agree, when it was a "strong rod for heavy fish" you expected a heavy rod.
The earliest listings of CFO he included the weight even for the wood rods. I'm not sure we can believe this, and I'll have to weigh some of my early rods to compare.
1874 Fly rod Ash butt, Lancewood second joints and tips .... about eight ounces, length eleven feet;
1874 Same style and finish as the previous length 12 feet, weight about 10 ozs
1876 Split Bamboo fly rod, German silver nickel plated mountings, ... Length 11 feet, weight about 7 ounces. $25
1876 "The coming bass rod" (Henshall) (for Black Bass,) ... Length 9 feet, weight about 8 ounces

perfesser
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Re: Earliest bass fly rods?

#10

Post by perfesser »

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